1036 Buddhist Diplomacy

BUDDHIST DIPLOMACY:
HISTORY AND STATUS QUO
Juyan Zhang, Ph.D.
September 2012
Figueroa Press
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BUDDHIST DIPLOMACY: HISTORY AND STATUS QUO
Juyan Zhang
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BUDDHIST DIPLOMACY: HISTORY AND STATUS QUO 5
Introduction
The Pali Canon, the only completely surviving earliest Buddhist

canon, is recorded as such: After attaining his full enlightenment,
the Buddha arose from under the Bodhi tree, and thought to
himself, “This Dhamma1 that I have attained is deep, hard to see,
hard to realize, peaceful, refined, beyond the scope of conjecture,
subtle, to-be-experienced by the wise. But this generation delights
in attachment, is excited by attachment, enjoys attachment… And
if I were to teach the Dhamma, others would not understand me,
that would be tiresome for me, troublesome for me.” As the Buddha
hesitated, the deity Brahma Sahampati appeared before him and
requested him to teach the Dharma. He asked the Buddha, “[F]ree
from sorrow, behold the people submerged in sorrow, oppressed
by birth and aging.”2 The Buddha then changed his mind. He left
the Bodhi tree, wandered in stages, and arrived at Varanasi, at the
Deer Park in Isipatana, where he first taught Dharma to the group of
five ascetics who attended to him when he was resolute in exertion.
This is the Buddha’s first Sermon, or the first Turning of the Wheels
of Dharma, as is termed by some later Buddhist schools such as
Yogacara. The time was more than 2,500 years ago.
Today there are in total 300 million Buddhists in the world.3

Buddhism became the state religion of many countries across history,
including a number of world’s largest empires during the height of
their times, such as the Indian Mauryan Empire (321–185BCE) and
Pala Empire (750–1174 CE), and China’s Sui Empire (589–618 CE),
Tang Empire (618–907 CE) and Yuan Empire (1271–1368 CE).
Throughout its history, Buddhism was disseminated in a peaceful
manner. Compared to Christendom and Islam, far fewer wars were
fought on behalf of Buddhism. It is regarded as one of the universal
religions along with Christianity and Islam because it “welcomes all
who believe,” regardless of their race, ethnicity, or nationality.4
As a faith, Buddhism undoubtedly has been successful in its

propagation. The natural questions that follow are: Historically how
did this happen? Does an ancient religion still have vitality in a modern
6 BUDDHIST DIPLOMACY: HISTORY AND STATUS QUO
world? What is the status of its contemporary dissemination? These

questions certainly warrant volumes of scholarly books. The present
study is in no way an attempt to survey all of the communication
processes that have occurred on the part of Buddhism. Instead, it will
focus on examining how the faith has involved diplomacy—primarily
public diplomacy—in its dissemination, and how such involvement
has promoted its propagation, historically and contemporarily.
Regarding Buddhist texts, this research primarily relies on the

English version of the Pali Sutta-pitaka and Vinaya-pitaka, including
Digha-nikaya (DN), Majjhima-nikaya (MN), Samyutta-nikaya
(SN), and Avguttara-nikaya (AN), as well as the Chinese translation
of the Agamas, including Chang Ahan Jing (largely matching Digha-
nikaya), Zhong Ahan Jing (largely matching Majjhima-nikaya), Zeng
Yi Ahan Jing (largely matching Avguttara-nikaya), and Za Ahan
Jing (largely matching Samyutta-nikaya). As mentioned earlier, the
Pali canon is the only completely surviving early Buddhist canon
preserved by the Theravada tradition. The Chinese Agamas were
translated from the Sanskrit texts compiled by the Sarvastivada
school of Buddhism. Although the two bodies of texts do not
squarely match each other, both are considered significant sources
for studying the pre-sectarian Buddhism.
Buddhist diplomacy during the Buddha’s lifetime
The first five monks who listened to the Buddha’s sermon

represented the formation of the Buddhist monastic community (the
Sangha), which is also the beginning of the propagation of Buddhism.
During the Buddha’s lifetime, there were sixteen kingdoms along
the Ganges River. From the beginning, the Buddha’s teaching
activities were inseparably involved in the relations between
the kingdoms. Not long after his first sermon, King Bimbisara of
Magadha invited the Buddha and the Sangha to Magadha’s capital
Rajagaha so they could stay there during the rainy season. The King
became the Buddha’s follower.5 Later a wealthy businessman named
Anathapindika invited the Buddha to Savatthi, the capital city of the
Kosala, another Kingdom, where he purchased a park and donated it
to the Sangha. The Kosala King Pasenadi and his wife Queen Mallika
also became followers of the Buddha.6 King Pasenadi frequently
sought advice from the Buddha. He also made confessions to him
on his wrongdoings.7 After Magadha Prince Ajatashatru imprisoned
and starved his father King Bimbisara to death to take his throne,
he repented of his sin and made confessions to the Buddha. The
Buddha converted him into a follower.8 On one occasion when
King Pasenadi fought and captured King Ajatashatru, the Buddha
personally persuaded King Pasenadi to release King Ajatashatru.9
When King Ajatashatru planned to invade the Vajji Republic, he sent
his Prime Minister Vassakara to the Buddha to indirectly discover
whether in the Buddha’s view there were any chances of conquering
the Vajjians. The Buddha said that as long as the Vajjians practiced
the seven conditions of prosperity, they would prosper rather than
decline. As a result, a potential invasion was diffused.10
During the Buddha’s life time, he not only sent his disciples to
the kingdoms to spread the message of the Dharma, he personally
wandered from one kingdom to another to teach the Dharma. For
example, the Samyutta Nikaya records that a minister of the Kosala
court said that he felt extremely sad to learn that the Buddha was
leaving Kosala for other kingdoms to teach Dharma, because he
would not be able to see the Buddha for a good period of time. The
kingdoms included Kāśi, Malla, Magadha, Anga, Samatata, Bentara,
and Kalinga.11 Throughout his forty-five years’ of teaching, many
kings, queens, princes and nobles became the Buddha’s followers,
along with numerous people of low castes, from beggars to
prostitutes.12 The Digha-nikaya reports that six peoples in the sixteen
kingdoms followed the Buddha’s teachings during his lifetime.13
But one of the Buddha’s last involvements in diplomatic affairs

was tragically related to his home country, the Sakya tribe. The
Kosala King Pasenadi’s son Virudhaka dethroned his father and was
determined to invade the Sakya people’s capital city Kappilavasttu
to revenge the humiliation he supposedly suffered there when he
was a boy. For three times the Buddha tried to stop the King and his
troops on the road, but eventually the Sakyas were left to their fate.
Virudhaka’s troops massacred a large number of Sakyas, destroyed

the entire city, and eliminated the Sakya clan. The Buddha could
only say to his disciples with great grief that no one could change the
karma that was brought about by the Sakyas’ past actions.14
Even right after his nirvana, the Buddha was involved in a

diplomatic episode. After his body was burnt on a pyre, eight
kingdoms competed to claim the Buddha’s remains for worshipping
purposes. Some sent troops and were ready to fight. Eventually a
Brahmin named Dona addressed the crowd by citing the Buddha’s
spirit of Ahimsa, or non-violence. He said, “Listen, lords, to my
proposal. Forbearance is the Buddha’s teaching. It is not right that
strife should come from sharing the best of men’s remains. Let’s all
be joined in harmony and peace, in friendship sharing out portions
eight: Let stupas far and wide be put up, that all may see—and gain
in faith!” He then divided the Buddha’s remains into eight portions
and a potential conflict was peacefully resolved.15
Early dissemination of Buddhism from India to the world
In the first rainy season after the Buddha’s nirvana (circa 543–
542 BCE), the Sangha convened its First Council, sponsored by
King Ajatashatru of Maghada, to review the Buddha’s teachings
so as to preserve them.16 This is when two of the “Three Baskets”,
or Tripitaka, were first formed, respectively the Vinaya-pitaka
(the monastic disciplines) and the Sutras-pitaka (the Buddha’s
discourses).17 The Sangha operated for more than one hundred years
under the disciplines the Buddha set until a dispute over interpretation
of the disciplines caused it to split into the Sthaviravadins and the
Mahasamghikas, or the school of orthodox elders and the school of
young reformers. This is the first schism of the Sangha. The Second
Council was convened at around this time to resolve the dispute.
This is also the beginning of sectarian Buddhism when the Sangha
started to split into many sects.18 When King Asoka (ca. 304–232
BCE), the third monarch of the Mauryan Dynasty, united the India
subcontinent, he sponsored the Third Council to expel bogus monks
from the Sangha. As a zealous Buddhist, he deployed nine Buddhist
missionaries to the world beyond the Indian subcontinent to spread

the Dharma.19
1. Emperor Asoka’s “Conquest by Dhamma”
In his campaign to unite the India subcontinent, Emperor Asoka

engaged in battles against Kalinga in the year around 261 BCE. In
the war, more than 100,000 people were killed.20 The bloody battle
prompted him to devote his life to non-violence and to “feel a strong
inclination towards the Dhamma, a love for the Dhamma and for
instruction in Dhamma”, as is recorded in the Edicts of King Asoka.21
Under the patronage of the emperor, the Third Buddhist Council was
convened in about the year of 250 BCE. The Council deputed nine
missionaries to today’s Egypt, Syria, Macedonia, Greece, Cyprus,
Afghanistan, Kashmir, the Himalayas, and Sri Lanka to spread the
Buddha’s teachings.22 For the first time in human history, a large-
scale faith diplomacy campaign communicated Buddhist messages
to three continents, namely Asia, Africa and Europe.
What motivated Emperor Asoka to promote Buddhism

domestically and internationally can be found in his edicts inscribed
on the pillars, boulders and cave walls that were excavated in today’s
India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. In these edicts, Emperor
Asoka said he is “zealous toward Dhamma”,23 and that he wished
that: “[W]hen people hear these [Dhamma], they will follow them,
elevate themselves and grow considerably through the promotion of
the Dhamma.”24
Emperor Asoka himself was initiated to become a monk in

the Sangha. He believed that “progress among the people through
Dhamma has been done by two means, by Dhamma regulations and
by persuasion….[w]hile persuasion has much more effect.” For this
purpose, the Emperor ordered to set up Dharma pillars and appointed
Dharma Mahamatras, or officers in charge of Dharma. The duty of
the Dharma Mahamatras was to “work among all religions for the
establishment of Dhamma, for the promotion of Dhamma, and for
the welfare and happiness of all who are devoted to Dhamma.”25
Emperor Asoka’s policy is termed Dhammavijaya, or “conquest by
Dhamma”. Emperor Asoka believed with zeal and conviction that

persuasion could bring better governance and peaceful relations
with other countries, which motivated him to send out the Buddhist
missionaries to the world.26
2. Spread of Buddhism to Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Laos,

Cambodia and Theravada Buddhism
The Buddhist missionary sent by Emperor Asoka to Sri Lanka

was completely successful. According to Sri Lanka’s historical
record, the Mahavamsa (The Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka), the ninth
Buddhist missionary led by Emperor Asoka’s son Mahinda, who
was a Buddhist monk, arrived in Sri Lanka in the year of 247 BCE.
They first converted the Sri Lankan King Devanampiyatissa and his
ministers into Buddhism. Then the King’s nephew Maharittha and 55
other Sri Lankan young men were converted. Because monks are not
allowed to bestow ordination to nuns, Mahinda’s sister Samghamitta
came to Sri Lanka from India to confer ordination to the queen
Anula and other women. King Devanampiyatissa donated the royal
garden Mahamegha-vanaya to build Mahavihara, which has since
become the center for dissemination of Theravada Buddhism.27 It
is through Sri Lanka that Theravada Buddhism and the Pali Canons
were preserved, which largely represent the words and practices of
the pre-sectarian Buddhism.
Buddhism was spread to today’s Thailand long before it became

a national state. The eighth of the nine Buddhist missionaries sent by
Emperor Asoka went to Suvannabumi, which some argue is located
in today’s Thailand. Others suggested it might be today’s Burma and
Cambodia, from where Buddhism was further spread to Thailand.28
Regardless, Theravada Buddhism did not become Thailand’s state
religion until the 13th century during the Sukhothai Kingdom.
King Fa Ngum (1316–1374 CE) was credited with introducing

Buddhism to Laos, but archeological findings show that Buddhism
was well known long before him. His Khmer queen might have
introduced a new Theravada school, the form that is practiced in
Laos today.29 There is no clear evidence of Buddhist presence in
Burma until the 5th century CE. Early Buddhism in Burma was
Mahayana Buddhism rather than Theravada. Around 1075 CE, King
Anawrahta Minsaw, the founder of the Pagan dynasty, requested for
the Tripitaka from the king of Thaton, but he was turned down. The
enraged king attacked and conquered Thaton and brought Buddhist
scriptures and Theravada Buddhist clergy back to Burma. Hence
Burma became a center for the orthodox Theravada Buddhism,
which became the dominant state religion and played significant role
in its social and political life.30
The earliest known kingdom in today’s Cambodia was called

Funan, which appeared roughly in the 1st century CE. The kingdom
was subject to both Indian Brahmanical and Buddhist influence in its
early years. But Buddhism appeared to have become the dominant
religion as late as the 5th century, and the kingdom had become a
hub for religious exchanges between China and India. Some eminent
Buddhist monks were sent along with embassies by Funan’s kings to
China. The successive Zhenla dynasty (550–802 CE) appears to have
practiced both Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism, and Buddhism
started to spread from the court to the mass. The Mahayana influence
was likely a result of the Nalanda Monastery-University complex
during the Indian Pala Empire.31 In the early Angkor period (802–
1432CE), Mahayana Buddhism gradually became the dominant faith
in the kingdom as a result of royal sponsorship. King Jayavarman
VII (1181-1219 CE) was extremely devoted to Buddhism. From the
13th century on, Theravada Buddhism had become the dominant
religion in Angkor, probably due to the influence from Thailand’s
Theravada Buddhist reformation.
3. Transmission of Buddhism to Central Asia and East Asia—

Mahayana Buddhism
a. Spread of Buddhism to Central Asia.
Buddhism started to spread to Northwestern India during the

Buddha’s lifetime (see SA.35.88). The government officials in
charge of Dharma affairs during Emperor Asoka’s reign worked
among “the Gandharas”, “Yonas” and “Kambojas”, which lay in
today’s Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Pamir.32 Their presence is still

felt today with the heavy influence of Buddhism in the region. The
overland trade networks that connected the Indian subcontinent and
Western and Central Asia further helped spread Buddhism to today’s
Afghanistan, Western and Central Asia.33 As in other parts of Asia,
rulers of various kingdoms played significant roles as patrons of
Buddhism in West and Central Asia. For example, King Menander
(circa 90–85 BCE) of one of the Greco-Bactrian kingdoms, the
legacies of Alexander the Great’s military campaign, actively
supported Buddhism. As the Sakas and the Kushans entered the
Indian subcontinent from the North between the 1st century BCE
and the 3rd century CE, their kings were also patron to the Buddhist
Sangha. The most famous among these rulers was King Kanishka
(127–151 CE), whose Kushan empire covered a large area of central
and western Asia and northwestern India. In the Mahayana Buddhist
tradition, he was believed to have convened the Fourth Buddhist
Council.34 The Kushan Empire played central role in transmitting
Buddhism and the Greco-Ghandara Buddhist art from India to China.
b. Spread of Buddhism to China.
Although there is no record in China’s official history texts,

Chinese Buddhist writings Fo Zu Tong Ji35 report that a Buddhist
missionary group consisting of 18 monks and led by a monk named
Shi Li Fang (likely a Chinese translation of a non-Chinese name)
paid a visit to the then Qin Empire’s capital, Xian Yang. Suspicious
of their motives, the Qin emperor Shi Huang Di (259–210 BCE),
who founded the first Chinese empire, had the monks detained but
later released. The Buddhist missionary might not be one of those
sent by Emperor Asoka because he died 12 years before Qin Shi
Huang became the king. But if the record is historically factual,
then this was the earliest intercourse between China and Buddhism.
China’s official history documents that Emperor Ming of the Han
Empire (28–75 CE) dreamed of a golden man, and his minister
explained that he probably dreamt of the Buddha. Emperor Ming
sent a delegation of 18 people to the “Western Region” to seek
Buddhism. The delegation brought back images of the Buddha,
Buddhist scriptures, and monks. The Emperor then ordered Buddhist

temples built in the empire’s capital Luo Yang (See Mouzi li huo lun,
or Mouzi on the Settling of Doubts).
c. Spread of Buddhism to Korea and Japan.
According to Korea’s Buddhist record Hai Dong Gao Sen Zhuan

(Biographies of Eminent Monks to the East of Ocean), Pu Jian (338–
385CE), the ruler of China’s Former Qin Kingdom, sent the Chinese
monk Shundao with Buddhist texts and icons to the royal court of
the Koguryo Kingdom on the Korean Peninsula in the year of 372
CE. Buddhism was widely accepted by the royalty and the subjects
of the kingdom. The royalty of another kingdom on the peninsula,
Paekje, also accepted Buddhism at around the same time. One of its
kings proclaimed that his people should believe in Buddhism and
seek happiness. In the sixth century, Korean King Syong-myong of
Paekche presented Buddhist icons and ritual objects to the Japanese
royal court. Under Prince Shotoku Taishi’s (572–621 CE) patronage,
Buddhism rapidly developed in Japan.36 In the following centuries,
Japanese monks went to China during the Sui Dynasty and the Tang
Dynasty and brought back Buddhist texts and images. Chinese
monks also sailed to Japan and established various Buddhist sects
there. Prince Shotoku (547–622 BCE) played a significant role in
promoting Buddhism in Japan. He dispatched Buddhist missionaries
to China and introduced Buddhist and Confucius values into
Japanese politics by drafting the 17-Article Constitution. At his
order, many major Buddhist temples were built and Buddhism saw
rapid dissemination in Japan.37
4. Spread of Buddhism to Tibet and Mongolia—Esoteric (Tantric)

Buddhism
Buddhism was first spread to Tibet in the 7th century when

King Srong-tsangam-po united the warring clans in Tibet. The
king married a Nepalese princess and a Chinese princess, both of
whom were Buddhists and brought the faith to Tibet. King Srong-
tsangam-po was soon converted to Buddhism by his queens. He built
Buddhist temples in Lhasa and made codes to convert his subjects

to Buddhism.38 However, definitive introduction of Buddhism into
Tibet was during King Khri srong Ide’u btsan’s reign (742–797
CE) when he invited Indian monks to Tibet.39 One of the monks
was the Tantric master Padmasambhava, who laid the foundation for
the development of esoteric Buddhism in Tibet. In the 10th century,
many Buddhist monks and translators traveled to Tibet, including
Atisa, and a monastic tradition was established in Tibet.40
The Mongolians also adopted Tibetan Buddhism. In the year

of 1244, Genghis Khan’s (1162–1227 CE) grandson Godan Khan
(1206–1251 CE) invited Sakya Pandita, the patriarch of the Sakya
sect of Tibetan Buddhism, to his camp and thus became the patron
of the Sakya sect.41 Sakya Pandita’s nephew Phags-pa converted
Khublai Khan (1215–1294 CE) to Tibetan Buddhism and became
his spiritual advisor and the Mongolian Yuan Empire (1271–1368
CE) formally adopt Buddhism.42 After the Yuan Empire collapsed,
Altan Khan, a Mongolian military leader who harbored ambition
to rebuild the empire, formed an alliance with the Yellow Sect of
Tibetan Buddhism. He gave Sonam Gyatso, the Yellow Sect’s
leader, the title Dalai Lama in 1578. Buddhism has since become the
dominant religion of the Mongolians.43
5. Influence of Buddhism in the West
Although Buddhism was primarily transmitted to the South,

Southeast, Central, and East Asia, there is evidence that it also
influenced the religions in the Middle East and eventually Western
religions. Buddhist influences can be found in Neo-Platonism,
Gnosticism, and Manechaeism.44 For example, Plotinus (205–270
CE), who greatly influenced Christian theology and philosophy of the
Middle Ages, participated in Emperor Gordinaus’ campaign against
Persia in order to study the religion and philosophy of India, where
Buddhism prospered at the time.45 Before converting to Christianity,
Augustine de Hippo, whose writings significantly influenced the
formation of Christianity, was a professor of Manichaen thought for
nine years.46 It is a known fact that Buddhism significantly influenced
the formation of Manichaeism.47 The Buddhist influence among

the Western faiths likely occurred through its monastic-University
complexes that attracted students from Greece, Persia and other
parts of the world. Mani (216–276 CE), the founder of Manichaeism,
visited the Kushan Empire, where Mahayana Buddhism prospered.48
Factors conducive to effective Buddhist diplomacy in the ancient

world
The history of Buddhist diplomacy shows that a number of

factors contributed to its wide spread in the ancient world. These
factors include the salient messages of Buddhism as a philosophical,
ethical and practical system, the Sangha as disciplined and trained
messengers, establishment of monasteries and universities as
propagation institutions, translation of the Tripitaka, spread of
Buddhist paraphernalia, conversion of opinion leaders such as kings
and princes, and localization. The following is an elaboration on
some of these factors.
1. The universality of the Buddhist messages:
In human history, Buddhism is perhaps the first sophisticated

faith system that was not linked to blood, racial, ethnic, or national
groups. This was a revolutionary idea for societies that worshiped
local gods and where only elites had access to sacred knowledge.
Such features make it a universal religion that welcomes all who
believe.49 Besides its fundamental teachings such as the Four Noble
Truths, The Eightfold Path, and its highly individualized teaching
style, some of the key messages of Buddhism, such as equality,
non-violence, and idealized rulers, as well as its dialogical approach
are particularly conducive to its spread across different societies,
cultures, and civilizations. The principles of Buddhism include the
following:
a. Equality—For Buddhism, all living beings are equal and

should be respected. The Buddha indiscriminately preached to
kings, queens, and princess, prostitutes50 and beggars.51 He rejected
the idea that the Brahmans are the superior caste and any other
caste is inferior.52 An associated concept is loving kindness (metta),

cultivation of which is crucial for Theravada Buddhism. Such
practice motivates one to take care of others selflessly.53 Equality and
loving kindness are ideals that appeal to most human beings across
different civilizations and cultures. Such messages probably helped
make Buddhism the first universal religion.
b. Non-violence (Ahimsa)—Non-violence is a fundamental

teaching of the Buddha. For the Buddha, the goal of the Dharma is
to achieve the attainment of “cessation, peace, the higher spiritual
knowledge, enlightenment and nibbana”.54 When Monk Punna told
the Buddha that he wanted to go to a country called Sunaparanta
to teach the Dharma. The Buddha asked, “Punna, the Sunaparanta
people are fierce. They are rough. If they insult and ridicule you,
what will you think?” Punna answered as such, “If they insult and
ridicule me, I will think, ‘These Sunaparanta people are civilized,
very civilized, in that they don’t hit me with their hands.’ That is
what I will think, O Blessed One...”. When the Buddha asked, “But
if they take your life with a sharp knife...?” “If they take my life with
a sharp knife, I will think, ‘There are disciples of the Blessed One
who—horrified, humiliated, and disgusted by the body and by life—
have sought for an assassin, but here I have met my assassin without
searching for him.’” The Buddha approved such answers by saying
that “Good, Punna, very good. Possessing such calm and self-control
you are fit to dwell among the Sunaparantans. Now it is time to do as
you see fit.”.55 Tolerance and peace taught by the Buddha certainly
helped the spread of Buddhism in the ancient world.
c. The Wheel-turning Emperor (ckravartin), an idealized

ruler—In the Pali canon, the Wheel-turning emperor is an idealized
benevolent universal ruler, who is still not freed from the possibility
of going to hell and the bad destinations.56 However, since the
first century CE, the Mahayana Buddhism School’s promotion of
the concepts of the Bodhisattva and their reincarnation made itself
particularly attractive to foreign kings and aristocrats because the
possibility for the latter of being declared or declaring themselves to
be the reincarnation of Bodhisattva.57 For example, during China’s
Tang dynasty, the emperors used concepts of Mahayana Buddhism

to legitimize their rule and even usurp others by declaring Buddhism
as the state religion, distributing Buddhist relics, building stupas, and
sponsoring translation of Buddhist scriptures. Some visiting Indian
monks aided Chinese emperors’ political propaganda efforts by
interpolating Indian texts when they translated Buddhist scriptures
by fabricating Buddha’s prediction that a Chinese king will be the
ckravartin.58 Baumann and Prebish59 rightly observed that the spread
of Buddhism in Asia adopts a top-down approach: kings and rulers
first adopt Buddhism, then invite foreign monks and set Buddhism
as state religion. Such a pattern certainly had to do with the idealized
ckravartin in the religion.
2. The Sangha as trained and disciplined messengers
When the first five monks were ready to teach Dharma, the
Buddha told them, “For the benefit and happiness of the largest
number of people, for the world, no two of you should travel
to the same place.”60 This command for the Sangha became the
first push for the active dissemination of Buddhist messages. The
Sangha was formed on the principles of celibacy, simple livelihood,
brotherhood, honesty, and self-responsibility.61 They are required to
follow numerous strict rules (vinaya) to live in the Sangha, such as
developing reverence and suaveness towards co-associates, being
respectful, avoiding loose talking, etc. The vinaya served as controls
imposed by the Sangha.62
In history, numerous dedicated monks trekked long distances

and overcame extreme geographical, political, and cultural barriers
to learn and propagate the Buddhist faith. Members of monastic
communities between India, China, and other countries made frequent
exchanges across borders. For example, Kuchean monk Kumarajiva
(344–413 CE) was brought to China by military generals where he
translated numerous Buddhist texts from Sanskrit into Chinese.63
Chinese monks Fa Xian traveled to Sri Lanka in 410 CE, Xuan Zang
to India in 629 CE, and Yi Jing to India in 671CE. They studied
in famous Indian monasteries and brought back to China Buddhist
texts of different sects.
3. The dialogical approach
The fundamental belief in non-violence and peace predicates

dialogical approach in the interaction and competition between
Buddhism and other belief systems. During the Buddha’s lifetime,
there were many schools of thought in India. The Nikaya-pitaka
records many instances when the Buddha and his followers visited
or were visited by other faith groups such as Jainists and engaged
in debate with them.64 Such dialogical approaches helped the
transmission of Buddhism without causing a confrontation with
other beliefs. It is noteworthy that (Esoteric) Buddhism gained the
status of Yuan Empire’s state religion through two rounds of debate
in 1255 and 1258 with Taoism, the previously dominant religion in
Shang Du (today’s Kaiping, Inner Mongolia, China). The debates
were presided over by Kublai at the encouragement of his brother
Mongke.65
4. Symbiotic relationship with long-distance trade work
Land-borne and seafaring traders played a significant role in

spreading Buddhism from South Asia to other parts of the world.
There was a symbiotic relationship between the Buddhist Sangha and
traders from the beginning. Anathapindika, who invited the Buddha
to Kosala and donated a monastery to the Sangha, was a rich banker.66
In the long history of Buddhist dissemination, numerous patrons and
donors were businessmen, who were often very involved in long-
distance trading and were in need of patron saints to protect them
from risks and disasters. They donated to the Sangha to accumulate
religious merit for themselves and their families; while the Sangha
developed its own transmission network along the trade network.67
In the history of Buddhist transmission from India to China, the
Sogdian merchants from Central Asia played a significant role.68
5. Establishment of propagation institutions
In the Buddha’s lifetime, generous believers donated monasteries

to the Sangha. For example, King Bimbisara donated the famous
Bamboo Grove (Veluvana) Monastery.69 These monasteries
became important learning centers and propagation institutions of

Buddhism. As Buddhism became increasingly influential, some
of the monasteries developed into large-scale monastic-university
complexes that attracted students from different parts of the world.
For example, during the Pala Empire (750–1174 CE) some state-
funded monasteries in East India attracted monks, scholars, and
students from such diverse locations as China, Tibet, Sri Lanka,
Nepal, Korea, Greece, and Persia. It also attracted donations from
foreign kings.70 These monastic universities taught different schools
of Buddhist thought and other disciplines such as medicine, and
trained missionaries in the skills of transmitting Buddhism.71 They are
considered among the earliest universities in the world. The largest
ones included Nalanda, Odantapuri and Vikramasila. Historians
recorded that Odantapuri permanently housed a thousand monks and
sometimes “twelve thousand monks congregated there”.72 Chinese
Monk Xuan Zang recorded that the Nalanda University had more
than 1,500 teachers to look after and guide 10,000 students.73 These
monasteries continued to train monks until they were destroyed by
invading Muslim troops in the 12th century.
6. Influence of opinion leaders.
The history of Buddhism’s transmission shows that opinion

leaders in a society were usually the first influenced by the new faith.
When kings, queens, princes, princesses, literati and artists became
Buddhist followers, other members of society would more likely to
accept the new faith. This is particularly true in the ancient times
when a foreign idea could be easily perceived as a heresy and threat
to the traditional beliefs. For example, when Buddhism was first
introduced to China and Tibet, it was initially resisted by aboriginal
faiths. With the effort of leaders in the societies, it went through a
process of localization and was eventually accepted.
7. Translation of Buddhist texts and gifting in diplomacy
Perhaps the most important means of Buddhist transmission

across borders is the translation of Buddhist texts as the faith entered
into different countries and cultures. The Buddha’s teachings were
initially memorized and orally transmitted by his followers in

Prakrit, a vernacular of ancient Maghada. Around the first century
BCE, they were put into texts in Sri Lanka, known as the Pali
Canon, which were translated into Burmese, Thai, and Cambodian
languages. Around the same time, the Buddha’s discourses were
also written in Kharosthi, a written language for Ghandiri, which
is another Prakrit language spoken in Ghandhara.74 As Mahayana
Buddhism prospered, the Buddhist texts in the second tradition were
gradually written into Sanskrit, the liturgical language of Hinduism,
probably because the kings and the monks found that Sanskrit better
transmitted Buddhism to a larger area. Most of the Buddhist texts in
China and Tibet were translated from Sanskrit.
Translation of Buddhist texts was often a joint effort by monks

across different countries, sponsored by governments and private
believers. For example, numerous Buddhist monks from India,
Central Asia, Sri Lanka, and Funan (Cambodia) went to China in
history, bringing with them Buddhist texts in Sanskrit and other
languages which were translated into Chinese with the help of
Chinese monks. Chinese royal courts also sent monks and embassies
to India to obtain Buddhist texts and bring them back to be translated.
For example, in 966 CE, the Song Emperor Taizu sent 157 Chinese
monks to the “Western Region” on a Buddhist mission, who invited
to China 80 foreign monks.75 China’s Sui Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, and
Song Dynasty had set up governmental institutions and appointed
officials in charge of translating Buddhist texts. The Chinese Tripitaka
(Da Zang Jing) translated and compiled by the Song Court in total
consisted of 6,620 volumes. Gifting of translated texts became an
important diplomatic tool in the ancient world. During the Northern
Song Dynasty, Japan, Korea, the Jurchens (Nüzhen) and the Tangut
Empire (Western Xia) (1038–1227 CE) sent monks and embassies
to request for block-printed copies of the Tripitaka compiled by the
Song Dynasty, which were approved by the latter.76
8. Buddhist paraphernalia and art as a propagation vehicle
Buddhist paraphernalia (caitya), which include remains of the

Buddha’s body, items he used, and objects built to commemorate
the Buddha, were important means of dissemination of Buddhism

across countries.77 Seedlings of the Bodhi tree under which the
Buddha attained enlightenment were taken to Sri Lanka when
Buddhism was first introduced there.78 Chinese history book Nan
Qi Shu79 records that in the 6th century, the Funanese (Cambodian)
king sent Buddhist presents to the Chinese emperor, including ivory
stupas and a coral Buddha image. In response, the Chinese Court
sent the monk Yunbao on a return visit to Funan, who brought back
a 12-foot-long strand of hair claimed to be the Buddha’s. Such relic
veneration “sustained the establishment of a Buddhist world in a
foreign land.” For a period of time Buddhist paraphernalia even
became an important export from India to China, which eventually
led to the booming of regular trade.80
Art, primarily sculptures, architecture, and paintings, was another

major non-verbal cue that helped transmission of Buddhism across
borders. In particular, Greco-Buddhist art, a syncretism between
Hellenistic culture and Buddhist elements as a result of Alexander
the Great’s military campaign, prospered during the Kushan Empire
in Gandhara. It greatly facilitated transmission of Buddhism. The
artistic style influenced Indian Mathura art and the art of the Gupta
Empire, which further influenced Buddhist art in Central Asia, China,
Japan, and Korea. It also had influence in South Asia. For example,
a Gandhara-style Buddha head, dated between 5-6th century, was
found in Wat Compong Luong, Cambodia.81
9. Localization of Buddhism
Localization through assimilating indigenous culture was an

important way for Buddhism to be transmitted from India to foreign
lands. When Buddhist texts were first translated into Chinese, the
translators used indigenous Chinese Taoist concepts and terms
to help the intellectual circles better assimilate to the new faith.
Another example of localization is the translation of the term naga,
which in Buddhist texts referred to cobra. But in Chinese texts it was
translated into dragon, the totem worshipped in China.82 By the Tang
dynasty, Buddhism showed a move from introduction to absorption
and creative internalization.83 Numerous localized Buddhist
schools, such as Huayan, Tiantai, and Chan, have prospered. In

Tibet, Buddhism interacted with the indigenous Bon religion and
eventually gained dominance.
Decline of Buddhism in Asia
Buddhism started to decline in India during the latter half of

the Gupta Empire when Brahmanism saw a revival (320–550 CE).
At the end of the 5th century CE, the Huna invaded Northwestern
India, destroying many monasteries and killing numerous monks.
In the 7th century, Bengal King Sasanka invaded the Gangic plain
and destroyed many Buddhist sites, including the Bodi tree at
Gaya, under which the Buddha reached his enlightenment.84 The
emergence of Vajrayana Buddhism (Tantric Buddhism), for which
rituals, magic power, and sex are essential, in the 8th century also
greatly caused the decline of Buddhism.85 In the 12th century, the
invading Muslim troops dealt a lasting heavy blow to Buddhism by
destroying numerous monasteries, including the famous Nalanda
Monastery. Since then Buddhism gradually died out in the Indian
subcontinent.
In East and Southeast Asia, Buddhism rooted itself and

underwent a long period of localization, but its dissemination was
mostly stagnated within the region. The 19th century saw a massive
colonization of Asia by European powers: the British colonized
the Indian subcontinent. The French colonized Indochina. The
Chinese empire was reduced to chaos by foreign invasions and
civil wars. Japan westernized itself while colonizing Korea. As a
result, Buddhism drastically declined in East Asia, Southeast Asia,
and Central Asia, long after it became extinct in its native land of
India. Buddhism lost state patronage in many nations, and it had
to face pressure from Christianity first and later Communism. For
example, Christian missionaries tried to convert Sri Lankan people
to Christianity since the 16th century. In Burma, Buddhism was
demoted as a state religion by the British.86 Communists in Soviet
Union and Mongolia banned Buddhism altogether until the 1960s.87
Buddhists were persecuted in China for several decades.
Revival of Buddhism after the WWII
After WWII, Buddhism saw a revival when the formerly

colonized Asian countries became independent. In 1950, the famous
Sri Lankan Pali scholar Dr. Malalasekera initiated a world Buddhist
conference in Colombo, which was attended by 129 delegates from
27 countries. The meeting was the first in Buddhist history that was
attended by nearly all sects of Buddhism. At the meeting, the World
Fellowship of Buddhists was founded, whose mission included
propagating the doctrine of the Buddha and securing unity among
Buddhists.88
In 1954, the Sixth Buddhist Council was convened in Burma,

attended by 2,500 monks from eight Theravada Buddhist countries.
The event lasted until 1956, the 2500th anniversary of the Buddha’s
nirvana, which was another major Buddhist event celebrated by
worldwide Buddhists with great religious fervor. The anniversary
marked an awakening of Buddhism in South and Southeast Asia.89
In 1966, Buddhist delegates from more than a dozen countries
assembled at Colombo, Sri Lanka, and established the World
Buddhist Sangha Council. Its missions include promoting exchanges
of Sangha and different Buddhist traditions worldwide.90
In East Asia, Japanese Buddhism first saw a revival and started

its overseas expansion as the country’s economy took off in the
1960s. In China, Buddhists began to see more freedom in 1978, after
several decades of restrictions and persecution. As the Soviet Union
disintegrated in 1991, Buddhism revived in Kalmyk, Buryatia, and
Tuva. A similar revival occurred in Mongolia in the 1990s. Since the
1990s, there has been an explosion of academic students researching
Buddhism in North and South America, Europe, Australia, and
South Africa.91 At the turn of the 21st century, Asian countries, such
as India, China, Japan, and South Korea, have launched a new wave
of Buddhist diplomacy to project their soft power in the international
arena. The United States has also been inextricably involved in
Buddhist diplomacy in its engagement in Asian Pacific affairs.
Indian Buddhist diplomacy
After it was virtually extinct in India for centuries, Buddhism

saw a modest revival in the country in the 19th century when
Anagarika Dhammapala of Sri Lanka founded the Maha Bodhi
Society of India.92 However, a large scale revival did not occur until
the 1950s when Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, the drafter of Indian
Constitution and a social activist, converted to Buddhism in 1956
along with many thousands of followers. There are nearly 8 million
Buddhists in India today, making Buddhism the fifth largest religion
in the country. Still, Buddhism constitutes less than one percent of
the population.93
India has become the ninth largest economy in the world in terms
of its nominal GDP,94 one of the fastest growing emerging economies,
and a member of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South
Africa) emerging nations. In tandem with its economic growth it has
sought to boost its soft power in the global arena. China’s aggressive
public diplomacy employing Buddhism has also drawn India into
a competition to assert its place as the center of Buddhism.95 As
one Indian diplomat put it, “China has sought to keep India out of
regional arrangements in Southeast Asia by portraying India as an
outsider. By underlining the multi-millennia-old bond of Buddhism
that it shares with these regions, India is quietly clarifying that it
is not a gatecrasher.”96 India’s governmental and non-governmental
Buddhist diplomacy initiatives focus on the following aspects.
1. Hosting the 14th Dalai Lama and the Tibetan refugees
When the 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a botched
uprising, Indian Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru allowed him
and his followers to settle in Dharamsala in northern India. This to
an extent has helped build India’s international image as a humane
protector of the Tibetans and a preserver of Tibetan culture and
identity. In addition, it helped strengthen India-U.S. relations during
the Cold War, when Nehru secretly aligned India with the United
States on the Tibetan issue.97 On the other hand, the Dalai Lama’s
residence in India helped revival of Buddhism in the country and

contributed to its recent push of Buddhist diplomacy. In 2007, for
example, the Dalai Lama presided over a Buddhist ritual to convert
more than half a million people to Buddhism at Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi
Racecourse. It was considered the largest religious conversion
in India’s history.98 At the 2011 Global Buddhist Congregation in
Delhi, a major event in India’s soft power campaigns in recent years,
the Dalai Lama was invited to deliver a keynote speech.
2. Sponsoring international Buddhist conferences on Nalanda

University
The Asoka Mission, which was founded by the eminent

Cambodian monk Ven. Dharmavara Mahathera in India in 1948
with support from Indian Prime Minister Nehru, organized a series
of international Buddhist conferences, including the Meaning of Sri
Nalanda in April 2003 and the Heritage of Nalanda in February, 2006
to commemorate the ancient Buddhist University’s contributions to
the world. Both conferences were attended by distinguished scholars
and monks from Bhutan, China, India, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and
Vietnam. The Dalai Lama inaugurated the conference.99
3. Leading pan-Asian initiatives to revive Nalanda University
The idea of reviving Nalanda University was first initiated

in the late 1990s. However, pan-Asian momentum to revive the
ancient Buddhist center did not occur until 2006.100 Major Asian
nations, including India, China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand,
and Singapore have actively engaged in the effort as part of their
soft power diplomacy.101 The Indian government set up a Nalanda
Mentor Group (NMG) as an interim governing board for the
multi-million dollar effort, with the Nobel Laureate and Harvard
University professor Amartya Sen as the chairman. Asian leaders
such as former Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo served as
members of the board, who labeled the project as “the icon of Asian
renaissance”.102 The Nalanda Mentor Group held its first meeting
in Singapore in 2007. The Group agreed that “in a period which is

witnessing the re-emergence of Asia as an economic hub, Nalanda
has the potential of becoming a beacon of global understanding and
world peace”.103 The Indian parliament passed a bill in August 2010
approving plans to rebuild the university. The Indian government
has committed US$10 million to the project’s launch.104
4. The 2011 Global Buddhist Congregation in Delhi
To commemorate the 2600th year of the Enlightenment of

Buddha, the Asoka Mission organized a four-day Global Buddhist
Congregation in November 2011 in New Delhi with the support from
the Indian government. The Congregation, which aimed to become
an international forum to promote peace, stability and prosperity in
the world, invited 800 scholars, delegates and observers from 32
countries, with the Dalai Lama as chief guest. The event had strong
diplomatic implications given that many participants were top
government officials, such as prime ministers from Mongolia, Sri
Lanka, Bhutan, and diplomats from the Indian Council of Cultural
Relations (ICCR).105 As part of the effort to reach out to the youth,
the Congregation held a Buddhist Cultural Heritage Festival that
included stage performances, film shows and art, photography and
book exhibitions from various countries. It is noteworthy that some
see the event as India’s reaction to China’s the First World Buddhist
Forum in 2006.106
5. Promotion of Buddhist tourism
Although the Buddha was born in today’s Lumbini, Nepal,

his enlightenment, first sermon, nirvana, and most of his teaching
activities took place in India. There are many Buddhist sites in
India and they constitute tourist destinations for world Buddhists.
The Indian government has been actively tapping the Buddhist
tourist resources as part of its nation branding campaign. In 2002,
the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Bodhgaya was declared a
UNESCO World Heritage site, which set in motion many proposals
to rehabilitate and recreate the Buddhist mecca.107 The Indian
government sponsored an “International Conclave on Buddhism
and Spiritual Tourism” in New Delhi in 2004, inaugurated by the

President of India and attended by the Dalai Lama. The conclave
recommended measures to rehabilitate the Buddhist sites. The
Indian government has increased efforts to upgrade its infrastructure
for such tourism.108
China’s Buddhist diplomacy
The Chinese government has seen the benefits of faith

diplomacy in boosting its soft power through setting up Confucius
Institutes worldwide. It also has shown increasing interest in tapping
Buddhism as a diplomatic resource. This probably has to do with
the following facts: first, there are more than 100 million Buddhists
in China. Promoting Buddhism internationally would have strong
domestic political appeal for Buddhist followers, which is conducive
to the Chinese government’s campaign of “building a harmonious
society.” Second, historically Buddhism has been more deeply
rooted in China (for more than two thousand years) than Islam and
Christianity, and is largely a localized religion. Its doctrines and
teachings have become a part of China’s national mentality and thus
bear strong “Chineseness” in cultural diplomacy. Third, promoting
its version of Buddhism and symbolic figures such as the Panchen
Lama help to counterbalance the world influence of the Dalai Lama.
Fourth, it is a convenient resource given that many Asian countries
have a large number of Buddhists and are historically influenced by
Buddhism. Finally, Buddhism was seldom associated with major
upheavals and social conflicts in Chinese history and is thus deemed
relatively harmless to the regime.
China’s Buddhist diplomacy has focused on the following

aspects:
1. Sponsoring international Buddhist conferences
The Chinese government hosted two World Buddhism Forums

in 2006 and 2009, respectively. The theme of the first forum was,
“A harmonious world begins in the mind,” held in Hangzhou,
Zhejiang Province, with more than 1,000 Buddhist monks and
scholars from thirty-seven countries and regions invited. The forum

naturally did not invite the Dalai Lama. The second forum, themed,
“A harmonious world; A synergy of conditions,” brought in 1,700
monks and scholars from over fifty countries and regions.
The Chinese government’s intention to use these events to

showcase its soft power was clearly articulated by the Panchen Lama,
a Tibetan Buddhist leader who is believed to have been elevated to
a high-profile political role by the Chinese government to help build
influence among the world’s Buddhists as a counterbalance to the
Dalai Lama. He said, “This event fully demonstrates that today’s
China enjoys social harmony, stability and religious freedom. It
also shows China is a nation that safeguards and promotes world
peace”.109
During the post-Mao era, China first employed Buddhism for

diplomacy with South Korea and Japan in 1995, when Buddhist
monks from three countries met for the first time in Beijing. The
China-South Korea-Japan Buddhist Friendly Interaction Conference
has since been held thirteen times. Senior Chinese religious leaders
expressed hopes that such conferences should “promote friendship
among the three countries in generations to come”.110
2. Joining in pan-Asian initiatives to revive Nalanda University
Chinese monk Xuan Zang trekked to Nalanda in 627CE and

lived there for 13 years to study and teach Buddhism. He brought
back many Buddhist texts to China and translated them into Chinese.
Since the Indian government initiated the project to revive the
ancient Buddhist propagation center in 2006, China has showed
strong interest in it. In 2006, China donated US$1 million to build a
Chinese studies library for the planned university.111 Professor Wang
Bangwei of Beijing University was a member of the planning board to
revive the university. In a joint declaration by the Indian government
and the Chinese government, the two agreed to collaborate in the
digitalization of Buddhist manuscripts available in China as well as
the re-development of Nalanda as a major center of learning with the
establishment of an international university.112 In February 2007, the

then Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing inaugurated a memorial
to Xuan Zang near the university’s ruins in Bihar, India. The Chinese
government sent truckloads of material to build the memorial hall,
which houses a Chinese-made 10 meter tall statue of Xuan Zang.
China’s State Bureau of Religious Affairs also organized two monks,
one from Chinese mainland and one from Taiwan, to travel on foot
from China’s Shaanxi to Nalanda.113
Relating to the Nalanda project, the Chinese government also

showed interest in a project proposed by the Nepalese government
to build a Buddhist circuit around the birthplace of the Buddha in
Lumbini to attract Buddhist tourists to Nepal. A Chinese minister
visited Lumbini to inspect the prospects.114 China is reportedly
considering extending its Tibetan railway network to Nepalese
capital Kathmandu, and eventually Lumbini.115 This will greatly
boost Buddhist tourism in the region if realized.
3. Organizing exhibitions of Buddhist paraphernalia and art in other

countries
The People’s Republic of China first used Buddhist relics for

diplomacy in 1955, when a sarira (Buddhist relic) of the Buddha’s
tooth was brought from China to Myanmar for display. The tooth
was again sent to Myanmar in 1994 and 1996, which attracted
hundreds of thousands of worshippers. In 1956, when the 14th Dalai
Lama went to India to take part in the 2500th anniversary of the
Buddha’s nirvana, China’s then Premier Zhou Enlai entrusted him
to dispatch a piece of the Chinese monk Xuan Zang’s skull relic to
Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as part of the plan to build
a Xuan Zang memorial in India. But the plan was suspended after
the Sino-Indian border conflict in 1962.116 The Chinese government
lent the remains of the Buddha’s tooth to Thailand in 2003 to honor
the 75th birthday of the Thai King.117 Early in 1994, China lent the
remains of finger bone of the Buddha to Thailand, which attracted
numerous worshippers.
China has also used Buddhist art for diplomatic purposes. The
country’s National Museum held an exhibition of ancient Chinese
sculptures of bodhisattva Guanyin (Avalokitasvara) in Mexican
City. The Mexican Foreign Ministry organized a foreign diplomatic
missions to Mexico for a tour of the exhibition.118 In April 2010, the
Chinese government sent a 160-member Buddhist Orchestra Group
to India to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Indo-China diplomatic
ties. The group has also been sent to South Korea, Singapore,
Indonesia, and Malaysia.
4. Training of Buddhist monks and scholars for better international

exchange
The Chinese government realized that China’s Buddhist sects

as a whole have far less influence than Theravada Buddhism and
Tibetan Buddhism in the world. In addition, Buddhist monks from
the Chinese mainland in general lack language skills, particularly
English, for the purposes of faith diplomacy. In 2008, China’s State
Bureau of Religious Affairs sponsored English language training
classes for Chinese Buddhist monks. In 2010, a Buddhist temple in
Guangdong, in collaboration with a university in South China and
Lumbini Buddha University of Nepal, held a training seminar in
English for Chinese Buddhist monks taught by Buddhist scholars
and monks from Nepal and the United States.119
5. Engaging in power competition with the Dalai Lama in the

international arena
The Chinese government insists that there is not a “Tibetan

issue,” and if there is one, it is only a matter of Chinese sovereignty
and foreign conspiracy to split the nation.120 But given that the Dalai
Lama is the leader of Tibetan Buddhism, a laureate of Nobel Peace
Prize with wide international influence and support, and a spiritual
leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile, the Chinese government
repetitively engaged in disputes with foreign governments over
the Dalai Lama. Whenever the Dalai Lama is received as a guest
by a foreign government the Chinese Foreign Ministry habitually
denounces it. In addition, the Chinese government has to defend

its religious policy and practices in Tibet. Since 2011, a series of
self-immolation by Tibetan lamas and nuns to call for international
attention to their cause has brought the Chinese government into
a face-to-face conflict with the Dalai Lama, Western governments
and NGOs. The Chinese government accused the Dalai Lama and
his associates of instigating the immolation. The Dalai Lama rejects
such accusations.121
Japan’s Buddhist diplomacy
As the first Asian country to successfully industrialize itself,

Japan is also one of the first to employ Buddhism for diplomatic
purposes among modern Asian countries. Japan started to introduce
Zen Buddhism, which is primarily based on the Soto and Rinzai
schools, to the West in the 19th century.122 During World War II,
Japanese Buddhist sects, including Zen Buddhism, supported the
country’s militarism, nationalism and racism in its brutal invasion
of other countries. Buddhist monks were sent to occupied areas as
part of the government’s colonization and international propaganda
program.123
1. Overseas expansion by Japanese Buddhist sects
After the World War Two, separation of church and state in the
new constitution prompted resurgence, modernization, and overseas
expansion of Japanese Buddhism.124 D.T. Suzuki (1870–1966),
along with many Zen teachers who emigrated to the United States
and Europe, “repackaged” Japanese Zen Buddhism for the West.125
Suzuki’s effort was reportedly funded by the Japanese government.126
Jodo Shinshu, or Shin Buddhism, which started to spread to North
America in the 19th century, also increased its westward expansion
after the War. Its affiliated organization, the Buddhist Church of
America, currently has over 60 independent temples and a number
of Fellowships and Sanghas with approximately 16,000 members
throughout the United States.127 Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism built
a worldwide network along with its lay organization Soka Gakkai.
Soka Gakkai International disassociated itself from the Nichiren

church in 1991. It is largely comprised of non-Japanese, including
many African and Hispanic followers.128 The organization claims
that it links more than 12 million people around the world.129
2. Japanese government’s involvement in Buddhist diplomacy
The Japanese government has been actively involved in Buddhist

diplomacy. It has funded many projects restoring world Buddhist
relics, promoting Japanese Buddhist heritage to the world, engaging
in international affairs that have to do with Buddhism, and using
Buddhism as a means to promote bilateral political relations with
other countries.
The Japanese government created the Japan Foundation and

the Japanese Trust Fund for the Preservation of World Cultural
Heritage to fund international cultural exchange programs and
restoration of cultural and heritage sites. It has funded preservation
and restoration of Buddhist relics in many countries such as China,
Myanmar, Uzbekistan, Thailand, India, and Cambodia. The Japanese
government has also showed strong interest in the multinational
effort to revive the Nalanda University in India. Japanese Foreign
Ministers met with the Mentor Group of the planned university and
Indian Prime Minister in 2007 and 2010, respectively, to discuss
Japan’s support for the project.130 As part of the Japan-Indian Global
Partnership signed in 2006, the Japanese government has agreed to
invest $100 million for the university.131 In addition, with the support
of Japan’s “Grant Assistance for Gross Projects”, the Japanese
government built 42 tube wells in villages in Nalanda to help the
local people.132
The Japanese government has also actively promoted Japanese

Buddhist Heritage to the world. For example, the government
nominated two of Japan’s Buddhist sites, Hiraizumi temples, gardens
and archaeological sites representing the Buddhist Pure Land and
Buddhist buildings in the Horyu-ji area, to be inscribed on the World
Heritage List. When Japan hosted the 2010 APEC conference, it
scheduled events such as a photo session in front of the Great Buddha

of Kamakura at the Kotoku-in Temple, a demonstration of Zen
meditation, and a Buddhist vegetarian meal. As part of the festival
to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first Japanese planting of
cherry trees in Washington, D.C. the Japanese government built a
zen rock garden in the United States capital.133
Japan is quick to align itself with Buddhists in its international

affairs. For example, when the Taliban threatened in 2001 to
destruct the Pamiyan Buddha statue in Afghanistan, the Japanese
government engaged in active shuttle diplomacy trying to prevent the
destruction.134 When Myanmar monks took to the streets protesting
the country’s military junta in 2007, Japanese officials called on the
Myanmar government to engage in “genuine dialogue” with the
Buddhist monks.135
Buddhism also serves as means to strengthen bilateral relations

in Japan’s diplomacy. For example, when Mongolian President
Nanbaryn Enkhbayar visited Japan, his schedule included visiting
two Buddhist temples; one in Fujisawa, the other in Yokohama.136
When the newly wed Bhutanese King and Queen visited Japan in
2011, they used a chisel to make a cut in a carving of the Buddha
made from a pine log washed away in the tsunami and offered it as
a prayer for its victims.137
South Korea: Efforts to globalize Korean Buddhism
The Korean Peninsula was split into two countries after the
WWII, and for decades Korean Buddhism was isolated due to the
situation on the peninsula, with factional strife in South Korea’s
Buddhist community and draconian control of monks and temples
by the government in North Korea.138 However, as South Korea
has become a major player in the global economy in the past two
decades, the country sees the need to boost its soft power.139 South
Korea’s Buddhist diplomacy is conducted through government and
non-government collaborations.
1. The Jogye Order’s Buddhist diplomacy initiatives
Since 2011, South Korea’s largest Buddhist sect Jogye Order has
been actively globalizing Korean Buddhism through overseas visits
and the establishment of administrative networks in the world. Its
leader Ven. Jaseung consciously related Korea’s Buddhist diplomacy
to South Korea’s nation branding. He said, “if Korean Buddhism
was known to the world, the national brand and status could be
spontaneously uplifted together”.140 He told the media at a press
conference in Paris that the Order would concentrate on promoting
Korean Buddhism to the world through a long-term plan to come to
fruition either 10 to 20 years or 40 to 50 years later.141
The Jogye Order attempts to differentiate Korean Buddhism

from Japanese Zen and Chinese Chan by promoting Korea’s Seon
Buddhism (Zen).142 One of Korea’s eminent monks argued that
“Korean Seon Buddhism preserves the original form of the traditional
Buddhism more than any other.... Now it is the right time to promote
our Seon culture to the world”.143 The Jogye Order aspires to the
success of Tibetan Buddhism and is trying to adopt its propagation
model. For example, Dharma talks by the masters of the Order have
been translated and published in English, edited by English speaking
monks and Korean experts.144
According to the Korea Times, the Jogye Order has provided as

much as $100,000 in grants to attract foreign students majoring in
Korean studies and foreign monks to practice Korean Buddhism.
Other programs include setting up a school of Zen named after
an eminent Korean monk, assimilating and training foreign-born
monks, meeting with UNESCO officials to promote Korean Buddhist
cultural heritage such as the lotus lantern festival, performing
Korean Buddhist rituals and music on foreign university campuses,
and founding a temple led by non-Korean monks with the purpose
to serve as a bridge between Korean Buddhism and the West.145
The Order also plans to open the first temple food restaurant on the
rooftop at Galeries Lafayette in Paris to globalize Korean Buddhist
temple cuisine. It has held seminars on temple food in the U.S.
and Germany.146 The International Dharma Instructors Association

(IDIA), which is affiliated to the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism,
opened up English classes on Buddhism.147 In 2010, Dongguk
University of South Korea held a conference titled “Ganhwaseon,
Illuminating the World”. The conference invited international
scholars so they could experience practice of ganhwaseon, which
is a method of meditation.148 The University plans to hold another
international conference on Buddhist studies that will invite scholars
from Harvard University, UCLA, Toronto University and Hawaii
University.149
As early as 2007, the Korean Buddhists opened the Buddhist

English Library of Seoul (BELS) in preparation to globalize Korean
Buddhism.150 In 2009, Korean Buddhists held a conference titled
“Outlook and Meaning of the Globalization of ‘Ganhwa Seon’.”
The participants agreed that great efforts should be made to translate
Korean Buddhist works into English.151 Soon after, the Korea
Buddhism Promotion Foundation published a book in English titled
“The Colors of Korean Buddhism: 30 Icons and Their Stories” to
introduce Korean Buddhism to foreigners.152 The Cultural Corps of
Korean Buddhism launched a multilingual website on its temple-stay
programs to attract foreign visitors to experience Korean Buddhist
temples, which also incorporated social media such as Twitter
and Facebook.153 Another master of the Order, Ven. Jinje, visited
the United States in 2002 at the invitation of the U.S. Congress
along with world religious leaders from 140 countries. He took the
opportunity to hold several Dharma talks in the U.S. and to promote
his English language book on Korean Buddhism.154
In June 2012, the Jogye Order and its Central Council of the
Laity organized the 26th World Fellowship of Buddhists Conference
in Yeosu city of South Korea. About 400 delegates from 30 countries
attended the conference. However, a dispute occurred when the
Chinese delegation abruptly returned home in protest against
Tibetan participation of the conference. The Jogye Order accused the
Chinese delegates of “lacking the least respect and consideration”
by politicizing a religious event and demanded an apology. It also
claimed that would “seriously reconsider” its relations with Chinese

Buddhists.155
2. The South Korean government’s Buddhist diplomacy
The South Korean government has been actively involved in

Buddhist diplomacy. In December 2011, South Korea’s National
Gugak Center, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Culture with
the mission to promote Korean culture in the world, sponsored a
Korean Buddhist music performance in France and Germany.156
Buddhist diplomacy plays a role in South Korea’s relations with
North Korea. The Jogye Order’s motto is to “live along with the
North”. For the Buddha’s Birthday in 2012, the Order invited the
president of North Korea’s Buddhist federation to join the ceremony
in Seoul.157 Top Buddhist monks visited North Korea at the invitation
of the North’s Korean Council of Religionists in 2011 as part of the
effort to bring the two Koreas back onto a path of reconciliation
and cooperation.158 Buddhists in the two Koreas have collaborated in
seeking Korean cultural relics from the U.S. and Japan.159 However,
a Jogye Order group scheduled to visit North Korea to discuss
expanding Buddhist exchanges between the two Koreas was rejected
in 2010 by Pyongyang after the South Korea’s Unification Ministry
approved the trip.160 The South Korean government also showed
interest in the international effort to revive the Nalanda University.
South Korea President Lee Myung-bak promised that his country
would examine possible ways to contribute.161
During the 2010 G20 Seoul Summit, Won Buddhism of

Manhattan, a U.N.-accredited NGO and a modern branch of Korean
Buddhism, held a religion and culture summit on ethics and global
leadership.162 In 2009, as part of its diplomatic initiatives with Burma,
the Korea Broadcasting Institute (KBI) signed an agreement with the
Myanmar Ministry of Information on shooting documentary film on
Myanmar’s Buddhism.163
The Dalai Lama’s Buddhist diplomacy
The first sign of a sour relationship between the Dalai Lama and
the Chinese government emerged in 1956 when he went to India to
attend the 2500th anniversary of the Buddha’s nirvana. The Dalai
Lama was reportedly planning to settle in India after the event.
The then Chinese premier Zhou Enlai went to India, with help
from Prime Minister Nehru, and persuaded him to return to Tibet.
Three years later, in 1959, the Dalai Lama fled to India after a failed
Tibetan uprising. Since then, he has gradually shifted from a symbol
of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism to a symbol of the Tibetan cause and,
eventually, to a symbol of Buddhism in the world.164 Throughout the
years, Tibetan Buddhism has become a fundamental venue through
which the Dalai Lama and his associates have gained international
sympathy and support for their political cause.
Since 1959, the Dalai Lama has made extensive travels and
met with many celebrities in the world. He has received numerous
awards and honors, the highest of which is the 1989 Nobel Peace
Prize. His autobiographies in English and the Hollywood movies
based on his life, such as Kundun and Seven Years in Tibet, helped
in the projection of his globally popular image. He has delivered
numerous speeches on Buddhism, compassion, environment, the
middle-way approach, world peace, religious harmony, and Tibet to
a worldwide audience. He has hosted numerous Tibetan Buddhist
rituals such as “kalachakra” in many countries. All these have
been powerful marketing instruments for Tibetan Buddhism.165
Tibetan monks have set up many monasteries and centers of Tibetan
Buddhism in the West. Their missions focused on the universality
of Buddhist teaching, and as a result the Tibetans have successfully
portrayed themselves to Westerners as a deeply religious and non-
violent people and the hapless victims of Chinese oppression.166
A number of issues concerning the Dalai Lama’s Buddhist

diplomacy are noteworthy. First, the Dalai Lama’s Buddhist
diplomacy has been deeply entangled in real world power relations
from its start. His cause and diplomacy has received support from
the United States since the Cold War era.167 In 1991, as the Soviet
Union was disintegrating, the Dalai Lama made a historic visit to
the Russian Buddhist republics of Buryatia, Aginski and Kalmykia.
However, when he planned to make another visit in 2010, the
Russian government assured the Chinese government that he would
not be granted a visa.168 In 2011, the South African government
denied the Dalai Lama’s request for a visa allegedly under China’s
pressure.169 Second, some of the Dalai Lama’s followers, including
monks and nuns in Tibet, have showed signs of radicalizing their
cause by engaging in riots (including the 2008 Lhasa unrest) and
by committing a series of self-immolations since 2011, which
have gained sympathy for their cause but may stray away from the
middle-approach that the Dalai Lama advocates. It is likely that
some activist groups of Tibetan monks and nuns may give up the
non-violent approach, which will pose great challenges to both the
Dalai Lama and the Chinese government. Lastly, the 14th Dalai
Lama’s reincarnation will almost certainly become an issue for the
major powers’ diplomacy. As the Chinese government insists that
a reincarnated 15th Dalai Lama must get its approval, the 14th
Dalai Lama has claimed that his successor could be female or found
outside Tibet.170 Foreseeably, if the 15th Dalai Lama is found in the
United States, India, Mongolia, or Russia, he or she would certainly
become a flashpoint between China and the concerning countries.
U.S. Buddhist diplomacy
Although the U.S. Constitution dictates separation of church

and state, in foreign affairs it has engaged in religious affairs and
the politics associated with it. The U.S. government’s engagement
with Buddhism primarily has focused on supporting the Dalai Lama,
promoting religious freedom worldwide, and dealing with political
issues that have to do with Buddhism.
1. U.S. support of the Dalai Lama
The U.S. first became involved with Buddhist diplomacy and

the Tibetan Dalai Lama regime when President Franklin Roosevelt
wrote to the fourteenth Dalai Lama in 1943 asking him to assist two
U.S. officers in Tibet. The letter was addressed to the Dalai Lama “in
his religious capacity, ‘rather than in his capacity of secular leader
of Tibet, so as not to offend the Chinese Government which includes
Tibet in the territory of the Republic of China’”.171 In the 1950s and
1960s, the U.S. government provided financial and military aid to
Tibetan guerrilla forces as part of the its effort to contain Chinese
communists, but it cut official contact with the Tibetan government-
in-exile in the 1970s and 1980s when it established diplomatic
relations with China.172
In 1991, former U.S. president George H. W. Bush met with the

Dalai Lama as a religious leader. It was the first time a Western head
of state had met with the Dalai Lama. The Voice of America started
its Tibetan broadcasting service in the same year. From 1991 to
2011, all U.S. Presidents, including President Bill Clinton, President
George W. Bush, and President Barack Obama, have met with
the Dalai Lama.173 In 2007, President Bush presented to the Dalai
Lama the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest civilian award
bestowed by American lawmakers. Bush said, “I have consistently
told the Chinese that religious freedom is in their nation’s interest.
I’ve also told them that I think it’s in their interest to meet with the
Dalai Lama”.174 In 2001, the U.S. government appointed a special
coordinator to encourage the Dalai Lama and China’s talks.175
The U.S. Congress passed the Tibetan Policy Act (TPA) in the
following year, which established U.S. principles with respect to
religious freedom, human rights, political prisoners, and economic
development projects in Tibet.
2. Annual International Religious Freedom Report by the Department

of State
The U.S. Department of State has issued an International

Religious Freedom Report annually in compliance with the
International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. Part of United
States national interest is to promote religious freedom in the world,
Buddhism and issues associated with it are part of the report’s
focus. For example, the 2001 report accused Myanmar of exercising
religious intolerance by “coercively promoting Buddhism over other

religions”. The report accused the Chinese government of restricting
Tibetan Buddhism.176 The United States also showed its concern
over China’s pressure on Nepal to restrict Tibetan monks’ activities
in the country.177
3. U.S. support of Myanmar Buddhist monks’ “Saffron Revolution”

(2007)
In August 2009, Myanmar Buddhist monks took to street to

protest against the military junta’s mismanagement of the country.
The protest movement became known as “the Saffron Revolution”,
named after the color of the Buddhist monks’ outer garments. As
the military junta cracked down on the protests, the United States
and the European Union issued a joint statement and called on
the junta to stop the violence and open discussions with political
prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi. The United States and the EU also
called on China, Indonesia and India to use their influence to
reduce tensions between the government and the people. In 2012,
as Myanmar was experiencing significant political transformation,
the U.S. government urged the Myanmar government to release a
prominent Buddhist monk who was one of the leaders of a 2007 anti-
government uprising.178
Buddhist churches and lay Buddhist organizations within the

United States have engaged in active international exchanges
across the border. Buddhism was first brought to the United States
by Chinese and Japanese immigrants in the 19th century and is
still practiced by many Asian immigrants. Since the 1950s, there
have emerged a number of distinct Americanized (or convert)
Buddhist communities, namely Zen Buddhism inspired by Japanese
Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, the Theravada-inspired Insight
Meditation Movement, and Soka Gakkai International, an American
Branch of Soka Gakkai Japan.179 Some of these communities, in
particular the Tibetan Buddhist community, have actively engaged
in international affairs. A study by the Pew Research Center shows
that as of 2010, there are about 1.7 million Buddhist immigrants
living in the United States,180 and the country is the top destination
for Buddhist immigrants.181 Such immigrant Buddhists may help
forge enduring religious, cultural, and political links to their Asian
homelands.182
Discussions and conclusion
In its 2,600 years of development and dissemination, Buddhism

experienced numerous ups and downs. But it has managed to extend
its reach to the entire globe in a very peaceful manner. Beyond Asia,
Buddhism has rooted itself in Europe, North America, Australia,
Africa, Middle East (Israel), and Latin America.183 As of the turn of
the 21st century, as is shown above, Buddhism is undergoing a new
wave of international expansion.
The early spread of Buddhism was closely intertwined with the

pan-Eurasian trade networks and greatly promoted cross-civilization
communications. The ongoing globalization in today’s world posed
another great opportunity for further expansion of the faith. New
communication technologies, primarily the Internet, and English
as a global language, made it possible for Buddhist clergy and
laity worldwide to access almost all of the Buddhist resources—
such as texts, art and studies—which were formerly confined
by geographical, lingual, and sectarian bounds. Historically, the
dissemination of Buddhism has received great support from royalties
of various countries, which is both a boon and a bane for the faith
because very often the faith has been alienated from the teachings
of the Buddha as a result of political influence. There were even
cases where Buddhist texts were interpolated for political purposes.
The democratization of politics in modern era and dissociation
of Buddhism from state sponsorship will ensure the development
of the faith continues on a less politicized course. In addition, the
abundant experience of international NGOs and the lessons of the
dissemination of other faiths, such as Christianity, will be valuable
resources for Buddhist dissemination. Lastly, the perpetual themes
of Buddhism, including peace, tolerance, nonviolence, and loving-
kindness, still have contemporary value and appeal to the worldwide
population.
This being said, a number of factors may hinder the constructive

role of Buddhism in global affairs. First, although in most countries
church and state are separated, the latter seems to always have
an urge to employ the faith for its political purpose. This is very
clear in China and India’s cases, where the faith is considered to
be a tool to project their “soft power”. As history has shown, this is
not always beneficial to Buddhism. Second, although all Buddhist
sects regard the Buddha as the ultimate root of their faith, in reality,
Buddhism is not a one-god religion like Christianity and Buddha is
not worshipped as a god. As a result, there are numerous Buddhist
sects, many of which use different texts and practice and worship
very different things, and often there is little communication
between the sects. This inevitably results in inconsistent messages
and can cause confusion among the world audience, in particular in
regions that are newly exposed to Buddhism. Third, the management
of different Buddhist sects represents very different power relations
within the sects. In some there are Western-style committees, but in
others the masters, teachers, and founding members have the final
say.184 This could become problematic because a number of scandals
surrounding Buddhism in the West have to do with the temples’
unique management styles.185 Last but not least, English has become
a global language and Buddhists have to master the language to
improve their communication. Many Buddhist temples have faced
language problems in engaging in international communication.
As the world’s only superpower, the United States has been the
top destination of Buddhist immigrants. Although the predominant
religion in the United States is Christianity, ironically it may be
the only country in the world where all sects of Buddhism could
be found. In the past decades, many eminent Buddhist monks have
immigrated to the United States, founded temples and taught Dharma.
Top universities in the United States, such as Harvard University, the
University of Chicago, Yale University, and Columbia University,
have hosted the best academic programs and prominent scholars on
Buddhist research. In this sense, the United States boasts very rich
Buddhist resources. Some even argued that an indigenous American
form of the Dharma, or “American Buddhism”, will emerge.186 With
English being a global lingua franca, it is not unimaginable that

the United States will one day become another center of Buddhist
teaching and dissemination. Such a possibility will certainly enhance
U.S. faith diplomacy in its international affairs, in particular its
relations with Asian countries.
Endnotes
1. This research uses “Dharma” (translation from Sanskrit), except when
citing directly from text translated from the Pali tradition, which uses
“Dhamma.”
2. Majjhima Nikaya.26; also see The Mahavagga. 5
3. Some argue that this number is grossly underestimated. Statistics on
the Buddhist population in the world vary depending on the definition
of being a Buddhist. The Asoka Mission, an NGO devoted to Buddhism
research and propagation, states that “a fifth of the world population
devotedly follow” the Buddha’s teaching (http://asokamission.in/
sites/default/files/Brochure%20-%20GBC.pdf). Some estimate the
number to be as high as 1.2 billion (See “Buddhists around the world”
at http://www.thedhamma.com/buddhists_in_the_world.htm.)
4. Johnson & Johnson, 2007, p.6
5. Mahavagga.22; Zhong Ahan Jing. 62
6. MN.87; Zhong Ahan Jing. 216
7. AN. 5.49, AN. 10.30, SA. 3
8. Chang Ahan Jing. 17.27; DN. 2
9. SA.3.2.5
10. AN.4.17; DN.2.72; Zeng Yi Ahan Jing.40.2
11. SN. 55.6
12. see Zeng Yi Ahan Jing, 6.3
13. DN.15.22
14. Zen Yi Ahan Jing. 34.2
15. DN.16
16. Cullavagga. 11.12
17. Mahavamsa. 3
18. Mahavamsa. 4
19. Mahavamsa.5
20. Sen, 1999, p. 150
21. Dhammika, 1993
22. Bhikku Pesala, 1991
23. Minor Rock Edicts
24. Dhammika, 1993

25. Rock Edict V
26. Sen, 1999, p. 150
27. Mahavamsa.14
28. Jing Hai, 2002; Bhikku Mahinda, 2005
29. Stuart-Fox, 1997
30. Jing Hai, 2002
31. Harris, 2005
32. Sen, 1999, p. 144
33. Neelis, 2004
34. The Theravada tradition had its own Fourth Council, which took place
in the 1st century BCE in Sri Lanka. The Pali canon was for the first
time committed to writing on palm leaves during the Council.
35. Chronicles of the History of Buddhism. 53
36. Murthy, 1989
37. Lee, 2007
38. Murthy, 1989
39. Williams, 2009, p. 187
40. Sen, 2004
41. Goldstein, 1997
42. Murthy, 1989
43. Harris, 1999; Rahul, 1968
44. Bary, 1972
45. Runes, 1955
46. Puri, 1993; Timothy, 2011
47. Foltz, 2010
48. Sinor, 1995
49. Johnson & Johnson, 2009
50. AN.42.9
51. DN.16
52. MN. 93
53. Bhikkhu Mettanando, 2002
54. DN.21
55. SA.35.88
56. see SN.55.1; also see Zeng Yi Ahan Jing 39.8
57. Williams, 2009, p. 11
58. Sen, 2004, p.62, 80
59. 2002, p. 2
60. Vinaya. 1.21, cited from Mettanando, 2000
61. Mettanando, 2000
62. Hirakawa, 1990; MN.69
63. Gao Sen Zhuan, or Biographical Collection of Eminent Monks. 2
64. see AN.8.12; MN.101; AN.4.195
65. Shi Xiang Mai, 2002
66. SN.10.8
67. Neelis, 2011
68. Sinor, 1995
69. Mahavagga.22
70. Sen, 2004, p. 106
71. Williams, 2009, p. 84
72. Sen, 2004, p.108
73. Asoka Mission, 2011
74. Hinuber, 2004, 2010; Salomon, 1995; Sinor, 1995
75. Xiu Ming, 2000
76. Xiu Ming, 2000
77. Sharf, 2011
78. Mahavamsa.18
79. The History of the Qi Dynasty.39
80. Sen, 2004, p. 57
81. Harris, 2005, p. 5
82. Tong, 2010
83. Tong, 2010
84. Sen, 1999, p. 88
85. Barua, 1999; Eliot, 1962
86. Spiro, 1982

87. Lovgren, 2008
88. WFBHQ [World Fellowship of Buddhist Headquarters], 2012
89. Weeraratna, 2011
90. World Buddhist Sangha Council, 2012
91. Baumann & Prebish, 2002, p. 5, 6
92. Lama Lobzang, 2011
93. Lennon, 2011, September 13
94. IMF, 2011
95. Overdorf, 2012, January 19
96. Ramachandran, 2007
97. Wales, 2003
98. Loudon, 2007, May 12
100. Noi, 2006
101. Shekhar, 2007
102. The Nation [Thailand], 2011, November 24; Lee, 2007, June 20
103. Singh, 2007, July 22.
104. The Nation [Thailand], 2011
106. Jacob, 2011, December 8
107. Geary, 2008
108. Agrawal , Choudhary & Tripathi, 2010
109. Xinhua News Agency, 2009, March 28
110. Xinhua News Agency, 2010, 19 October
111. The Nation [Thailand], 2011
112. People Daily, 2006, November 22
113. Abdi, 2007
114. Giri, 2010
115. Pradhan, 2012
116. Abdi, 2007
117. People Daily, 2002, December 16
118. Chinese Embassy to Mexico, 2008

119. Huang, 2011
120. Xinhua News Agency, 2009, March 3
121. The Telegraph, 2012, April 6
122. McMahan, 2002; Snodgrass, 2003
123. He, 2006; Victoria, 2006
124. Kawanami, 1999
125. McMahan, 2002
126. Nan, 2002
127. Buddhist Church of America, 2012
128. Wallace, 2002
129. Soka Gakkai International, 2012
130. MOFA, 2007, December 14
131. Shekhar, 2007
132. Nadim, 2012
133. The New Zealand Herald, 2012
134. MOFA, 2001, March 21
135. Monten, 2007
136. MOFA, 2007, Feb. 27
137. MOFA, 2011, November 21
138. Sorensen, 1999
139. Nye, 2009
140. Do, 2011, December 27
141. Chung, 2011, October 2
142. Do, 2011, December 27
143. Chung, 2011, April 13
144. Do, 2011, October 4
145. Chung, 2011, April 13; Do, 2011, December 27
146. Cho, 2012, February 8
147. Korea Times, 2012, January 2
148. Chung, 2011, May 9
149. Chung, 2011, April 13
150. Han, 2009, April 29

151. Han, 2009, November 23
152. Han, 2010, November 21
153. Lee, 2011, January 3
154. Do, 2012, January 18
155. AFP, 2012, June 14
156. Lee, 2011, December 4
157. Lee, 2012, January 17
158. Song, 2011, September 21
159. Lee, 2010, March 30
160. BBC Worldwide Monitoring, 2010, March 13
161. Nalanda University, 2012
162. Min, 2010, November 5
163. BBC Worldwide Monitoring, 2009, August 23
164. Bentz, 2012
165. Bentz, 2012
166. Schwartz, 1999
167. Conboy & Morrison, 2002; Goldstein, 2006
168. Tsering, 2010
169. Polgreen, 2011
170. Wong, 2010
171. Goldstein, 1999, p.39
172. Goldstein, 1995
173. International Campaign for Tibet, 2012
174. Naylor, 2007
175. Pal, 2006
176. U.S. Department of State, 2001
177. U.S. Department of State, 2011
178. The Asian Age, 2012
179. Seager, 2002
180. The number does not include American converts.
181. Audi, 2012
182. Seager, 2002

183. Baumann & Prebish, 2002
184. Clasquin, 2002
185. Bell, 2002
186. Seager, 2002
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Author Biography
Juyan Zhang is Assistant Professor at the Department of

Communication, University of Texas at San Antonio. He earned his
doctoral degree from the School of Journalism, University of Missouri
at Columbia. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree from School of
International Relations, Renmin University of China and his Master’s
degree from the School of International Studies, Beijing University.
Dr. Zhang taught communication courses at Monmouth University

before moving to the UTSA. He freelanced for Washington Observer
Weekly, an independent Chinese-language news magazine operated
by the International Media Division of the World Security Institute, a
think tank based in Washington, D.C. Through first-hand interviews,
he reported extensively on Sino-U.S. relations, American foreign
policies, socioeconomic development, and trends in U.S. politics, as
well as their implications for the Asia/Pacific region. He has contributed
to Nepal Monitor, an online semi-scholarly journal that is dedicated
to analysis of media and public affairs in Nepal. Before moving to the
United States, he worked as a journalist and editor for China’s first and
the largest commercialized news group, the Guangzhou Daily Group.
Dr. Zhang has published close to twenty scholarly articles on

public diplomacy and international communication in peer-reviewed
journals such as Public Relations Review, Place Branding and
Public Diplomacy, and International Journal of Communication. He
presented more than thirty articles at the conferences of International
Communication Association, National Communication Association
and The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication (AEJMC). Currently he is conducting a research
project on engagement public diplomacy.
As a CPD Contributing Scholar in Faith Diplomacy, Dr. Zhang

focuses his research on a project entitled “Exploring Resurgence of
Buddhist Diplomacy.”
Other Papers in the CPD Perspectives on Public Diplomacy Series
All papers in the CPD Perspectives series are available for free on the
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BUDDHIST DIPLOMACY:

HISTORY AND STATUS QUO

Juyan Zhang, Ph.D.

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The Pali Canon, the only completely surviving earliest Buddhist

Today there are in total 300 million Buddhists in the world.3

As a faith, Buddhism undoubtedly has been successful in its

world? What is the status of its contemporary dissemination? These

Regarding Buddhist texts, this research primarily relies on the

Buddhist diplomacy during the Buddha’s lifetime

The first five monks who listened to the Buddha’s sermon

But one of the Buddha’s last involvements in diplomatic affairs

Virudhaka’s troops massacred a large number of Sakyas, destroyed

Even right after his nirvana, the Buddha was involved in a

Early dissemination of Buddhism from India to the world

missionaries to the world beyond the Indian subcontinent to spread

1. Emperor Asoka’s “Conquest by Dhamma”

In his campaign to unite the India subcontinent, Emperor Asoka

What motivated Emperor Asoka to promote Buddhism

Emperor Asoka himself was initiated to become a monk in

Dhamma”. Emperor Asoka believed with zeal and conviction that

2. Spread of Buddhism to Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Laos,

The Buddhist missionary sent by Emperor Asoka to Sri Lanka

Buddhism was spread to today’s Thailand long before it became

King Fa Ngum (1316–1374 CE) was credited with introducing

The earliest known kingdom in today’s Cambodia was called

3. Transmission of Buddhism to Central Asia and East Asia—

a. Spread of Buddhism to Central Asia.

Buddhism started to spread to Northwestern India during the

today’s Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Pamir.32 Their presence is still

b. Spread of Buddhism to China.

Although there is no record in China’s official history texts,

Buddhist scriptures, and monks. The Emperor then ordered Buddhist

c. Spread of Buddhism to Korea and Japan.

According to Korea’s Buddhist record Hai Dong Gao Sen Zhuan

4. Spread of Buddhism to Tibet and Mongolia—Esoteric (Tantric)

Buddhism was first spread to Tibet in the 7th century when

Buddhist temples in Lhasa and made codes to convert his subjects

The Mongolians also adopted Tibetan Buddhism. In the year

5. Influence of Buddhism in the West

Although Buddhism was primarily transmitted to the South,

the formation of Manichaeism.47 The Buddhist influence among

Factors conducive to effective Buddhist diplomacy in the ancient

The history of Buddhist diplomacy shows that a number of

1. The universality of the Buddhist messages:

In human history, Buddhism is perhaps the first sophisticated

a. Equality—For Buddhism, all living beings are equal and

caste is inferior.52 An associated concept is loving kindness (metta),

b. Non-violence (Ahimsa)—Non-violence is a fundamental

c. The Wheel-turning Emperor (ckravartin), an idealized

Tang dynasty, the emperors used concepts of Mahayana Buddhism

2. The Sangha as trained and disciplined messengers

In history, numerous dedicated monks trekked long distances

3. The dialogical approach